Apple Watch? Teens don't care, says survey

The Apple Watch? Most teenagers wouldn't give it the time of day, according to a survey of 7,000 teens conducted by investment bank and asset management firm Piper Jaffray.

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Roughly 16 percent of teens surveyed said they'd be interested in an Apple wristwatch, a surprisingly low interest level that analyst Gene Munster characterized as "modest at best" during a CNBC interview on Wednesday.

"What's driving that is teens don't wear watches and I think that there is a kind of a structural shift that needs to happen and I think in general people have just obviously been using their phones to tell time," Munster, a managing director and senior research analyst, said on "Squawk on the Street." "So I think that's one of the headwinds that I think the [Apple Watch] is going to have to face."

In fairness, though, the survey began on Aug. 25 and concluded Sept. 30, Munster said. The Apple Watch was unveiled on Sept. 9, so some participants didn't have the advantage of actually seeing news reports about the device, he noted.

Regardless, teens' appetite for the Apple Watch might not make a huge difference anyway, at least in the near-term, he said.

"I think investors have modest expectations right now about the watch and I think that adults are going to be the primary buyers and I think the real value of it is going to develop as developers build applications for it, so this is a long road. It's a new category. It's going to take time to take off."

Apple did not immediately return an email and phone call seeking comment.